This Wednesday, August 27, Moscow’s Red Square hosted the last day of the ninth Spasskaya Tower Children and Youth Wind Bands Festival. Ensembles from Moscow and its region, Tver and Sakhalin regions had an important mission of wrapping up the amazing three-days celebration of talent and youth. The event featured prize-winners of the Spasskaya Tower Children and Youth Wind Bands Contest and was carried out within the Festival’s main program with the unwavering support of the Ministry of Culture of Russia.
With the Spasskaya Tower chimes striking 12 am sharp, the Festival began. The Znamenskiy Drummers Ensemble from Moscow’s Krasnogorsk town stepped onto the cobblestones of Red Square. The drumming ensemble shook the cobblestones of Red Square with a vibrant and vivid drumming beat.
The floor was then passed to the Golden Saxophone Children Wind Band representing Kuvshinovo of the Tver region. Musicians have put together a versatile program featuring Russian popular and folk songs. To the ovations of the audiences, the children happily left the cobblestones and passed the floor to the Bravo Sakhalin Children Wind Band. Accompanied by the Etnos Children Ensemble, they presented an exceptional performance paying homage to their native land of the Primorskiy Krai. Despite the anxiety, the young stars did their best, performing a variety of music styles.
Finally, the Virtuosi Wind Band stepped onto the cobblestones of Red Square. Representing the Radost Children and Youth Center for Cultural and Music Education and the First Moscow Cadet Corps, the young artists staged a true open-ground or platz concert showing both complicated regroupings and elements of theatrical show. They have proved that a wind ensemble is able to perform anything, from patriotic marches to animated movie scores, and received their well-deserved standing ovations.
Mr Rostislav Kostomarov, the ensemble’s head, highly appreciated the performance of the young talents, highlighting that for a children band it was pretty good. “Our band is deservedly regarded as one of the finest in Russia. Since the team’s inception, the kids have been preparing for this performance, and this has definitely been one of the most important shows in their lives yet. We are all very happy”, said Mr Kostomarov.
Colonel Konstantin Petrovich, Head of the Military Band Service of the Moscow Military District, hosting the awards ceremony highlighted the following. “The Spasskaya Tower for Kids is an amazing event taking place on Red Square, in the very heart of Russia. It’s a genuine celebration of music and talent. Therefore, I would like to complement all the parents and grandparents for taking their children and grandchildren to music classes. I’m sure that many of the boys and girls present today will tie their future with music. I am very proud to see that the military music service and wind music in Russia has such a bright future”.
This year the ninth Spasskaya Tower Children and Youth Wind Bands Festival traditionally unfolds on Moscow’s Red Square between August 25 and 27 within the seventeenth run of the Spasskaya Tower International Military Tattoo. The Spasskaya Tower Children and Youth Wind Bands Festival goal is to promote the art of military music among youngsters, evoking curiosity in various musical styles and forming a unified culture, as well as revitalizing the youth band movement, defining patriotic ideals and preserving national music traditions.
Please, note that taking part in the selection stage and then in the festival is absolutely free and does not imply any additional charges to be paid by the ensembles or their legal representatives.
